


Starstruck

by hanville



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Heavily Inspired by Starstruck, Light Angst, M/M, Minho's sister is the biggest fan of Jisung, Side ships if you squint but I tagged since they're there, Starstruck AU, Strangers to Lowkey Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Superstars!3RACHA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21705460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanville/pseuds/hanville
Summary: Lee Minhowas expecting a normal trip to California with his family to visit his grandmother. However, he (reluctantly) agrees to look after his younger sister and accompany her to find the famous world-stage star,Han Jisungof 3RACHA.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Kim Mingyu, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin/Seo Changbin
Comments: 11
Kudos: 246





	Starstruck

**Author's Note:**

> hey hi hello!! it's me again with another (already third!) minsung fic!  
> it's, of course, based on the disney movie starstruck but i've modified things so i hope you can enjoy it even if you've already seen it! and if you haven't, it's a perfect silly rom-com with cool songs, so !! :3  
> also, if it's easier for you to read, i've got this au published on wattpad  as well.

Through the years, Minho bravely bears the squeaks and screams of his younger sister, who gave him a hard time for one simple and quite obvious reason — she is a teenager madly in love with the world music star.

As for 3RACHA, they were idols of not only squeaking teenagers, but also boys who loved the deep lyrics of their songs, grandfathers who believed that “thanks to their music, they fish better” and even Minho’s own mother, who often played their music during cleaning days. “It’s very calming,” she says.

Minho, however, couldn’t understand how spitting ten syllables per second could be calming. He had to admit that the music of 3RACHA was good, and the fact that all the songs were written and produced by them was something impressive. They were called the Pride of Korea for a reason. Nonetheless, he couldn’t really listen to their music for his own pleasure, as the only thing 3RACHA reminded him of were the screeches of his sister.

“Hyemin, can’t you go one second without listening to his voice on full volume?” Minho grumbles, throwing her bedroom door open. “Can you turn it down?”

Hyemin looks up from her computer screen, then sighs dramatically as she falls back in her chair. “I love him, Minmin-ah.”

“Yes, Hye. You've only said this—” he taps his index finger against his chin, “three million times. This week.”

She rolls her eyes and pulls her computer closer to her chest and Minho can only watch her press the volume up button vigorously, just to spite him.

Minho glares at her. “I will literally kill you,” he mutters under his breath as one of the 3RACHA live performances is being played (for the thousandth time, Minho could swear) on his sister’s computer. “I have to study before we leave! Can’t you respect that I have something to do too? You’re not alone in this house, for god’s sake!”

“Minho, Hyemin!”

Their heads turn to face the door at the same time, when they heart their mother yell from the downstairs “Come pick out your clothes and get packing. We're leaving for the airport right after school tomorrow.”

“Got it, mama!” Hyemin grins evilly at Minho and quickly runs past him down the stairs to their mother, who's holding a basket of washed clothes. His younger sister looks at the clothes with distaste, and takes out a shirt she'd normally love to wear.

“In less than twenty-four hours I'll be in Los Angeles where Jisung lives,” she says with a dreamy smile on her face.

Hyemin suddenly drops the shirt she was holding, and turns to Minho with wide eyes. “What if he picks me up from the airport?”

Minho chokes on his juice, then nearly coughs up a lung. After a short moment, he replies, “Why in the world would he do that?”

His sister scoffs, as if it's obvious. “I'm an original member of his fan club. I follow his minute-by-minute blog posts, and I send him messages on kakaotalk every day. Trust me, he wants to meet me.”  
Minho shifts his stare at his mother, who looks just as confused as he does. “Is it too late for me to be an only child?”

“Yes,” his mother replies with a soft smile. Her skin is wrinkled by her eyes and mouth as if she smiled a lot and squinted her eyes in the process and Minho knows that it’s true — his mom is very optimistic and rarely gets upset. It makes his heart swell a little as he knows she probably hides a lot of her sorrows to spare her children worries.

He rises the corners of his mouth slightly and says, “Then can I please stay at home?”

“No.”

Minho doesn’t expect a different answer, nonetheless he sighs irritably. “Why not? I'm twenty-two years old for f— heaven's sake.”

“Because your grandmother hasn't seen you in three years.”

“Well, it's hardly my fault she decided to live in the United States. If she wants to see me, she'll have to come here instead.”

Minho knows he’s being ridiculous but he’d do anything to avoid babysitting his younger by three years sister in Los Angeles. He loves his grandma. She used to cook him a lot of delicious food when he was a kid but when she moved to the US, they rarely talked. Minho is sure she doesn’t really remember what he looks like.

“Minho,” his mother warns. “Don’t act like a brat. You're going. And that's final.”

Before Minho has the chance to groan, showing off exactly how annoyed he is at the thought of spending entire two weeks in the company of his sister (freaking out over a musician) and his parents (who don’t seem to mind her screaming about stalking the poor guy twenty-four seven), Hyemin interrupts him.

“Everybody quiet,” she demands from the couch, turning the television's volume up. “This might be about 3RACHA.”

“The fabulous trio, the Pride of Korea," the woman on the TV starts, "picked up six American Music Association Awards last night, just in time for their new album ‘Horizon’, to drop, whoa, diamond! I caught up with out favourite world-stars on the red carpet.”

The woman excitedly shoves the microphone in the leader, Bang Chan’s face. His teammates seem a little bit annoyed at the fact that they’re going to be interviewed, nonetheless, the blond smiles brightly and, in a pleasant to hear accent, he says, “Well, first I'd love to say thank you so much for buying the records and coming to our concerts. You're the reason we love what we do. You guys are the best fans in the entire universe. Thank you.”

Hyemin squeaks as the camera shifts to the ‘love of her life’, a ginger-haired man with big ‘squishy’ cheeks, and Han Jisung speaks up.

“Guys! Our new album drops in a week and it already got the status of a diamond record! We couldn’t believe that when we were first told! We have never achieved this and I don’t think anyone ever has. It’s a pleasure to represent South Korea so well.”

Minho pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation, but Hyemin sighs lovingly. “He is such an amazing person.”

“He’s definitely not.”

“He is amazing. And if you knew him like I know him, you wouldn't say that.”

Minho rises his eyebrows and tilts his head to the side, looking at his sister with pity. “Hello? We live in Seoul. You don't know him.”

“But I do,” she smirks. “I know everything about him.”

“You’re his stalker. If he saw you, he would definitely run away. And call the cops,” Minho says and Hyemin groans loudly. She grabs the cushion laying on the couch and throws it at him, but he manages to catch it right before it hits him in the face.

“Go fuck yourself, Hyemin,” Minho says. He puts the cushion back on the couch and places his soft hands on her cheeks. “Sweet, sweet Hyemin.”

He presses his hands on her cheeks so hard that her mouth forms the shape on an 8. “You're the reason celebrities get twenty security guards. Get a life that doesn’t revolve around someone or something you can never have.”

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

Jisung arrives at the club a little later than he promised his friends to. They already wait for him as he steps out of his car and hands the keys to the valet. Hyunjin immediately clings onto him, with a big smile. “You ready to party?”

“Absolutely,” Jisung says without much enthusiasm, but his friend doesn’t seem to care. He grabs Jisung by the forearm instead and pulls him to the front of the building where the rest of their friend group are.

Hwang opens his mouth one more time and excitedly states, “You know, out of all your cars, Sora is my favourite.”

“Sora?”

“Yeah, look at her.” They both turn around to look at the sports car. “Hey, does that new valet look a little shifty to you?”

Jisung rises his eyebrows in doubt. “No, not really.” He sees that Hyunjin wants to say something again, so he exclaims, “Oh, look! Felix is there!”

“Felix?” Hyunjin straightens his back and runs his fingers through his black hair, searching for that one face in the crowd. “Yongbok-ah! There you are!” He grabs Jisung again as he spots the blond in the sea of people and pulls him in that direction.

Felix goes for a hug with Hyunjin and then does the same with Jisung, failing to notice the black haired male’s longing stare. Jisung decides to ignore it for the moment and take care of that matter later.

“Are Changbin and Chan inside?” Jisung asks and Felix nods, smiling.

“They’ve already saved us a table,” he says. “Let’s not keep them waiting. Chan was pretty anxious earlier when we talked as Mingyu didn’t want to come and you know— he wanted to make it official to the press. But Mingyu is hesitant.”

“Oh. I see. He did say something about it but I thought they both wanted it.”

Felix shakes his head but smiles after a short moment and holds out his hand for Hyunjin to hold. “Let’s go, boys.”

The moment the three enter the club, they are hit with a suffocating smell of mixed perfume, alcohol and sweat. Jisung doesn’t really like this kind of parties. He likes those that are thrown at one of his houses, full of friends and people he knows well but not those in the city, where anyone can get if they pay enough money. You can never know if you are safe on these parties.

He breaks out of his thoughts when Chan hugs him as they reach the saved table. He smiles at his friend and sits next to him. Changbin, however, is out of sight. “Did you order me anything?” Jisung asks.

Chan shakes his head, handing him the menu. Jisung can’t really focus on reading it as the music is too loud and winces. “I’m just gonna go with what you guys choose,” he says after a moment and hands the card to Felix sitting opposite him.

He sees Hyunjin leaning over Felix’s shoulder as they both read the menu and discuss something quietly. Turning to Chan, he smiles again. “How is it going?”

The blond takes a while to respond. “Not as good as I would like it to.” The corners of his lips go up in a sad smile and Jisung really wants to make him feel better. “Oh,” Chan suddenly lets out and Jisung follows his gaze and sees Changbin, grinning from ear to ear, in the company of a cherry-haired boy. They approach the table Jisung and his friends are sitting at and Changbin wraps his arm around the  
stranger’s waist. They both laugh out loud as Chan and Jisung share surprised grins.

“Guys, this is Seungmin!” Changbin exclaims loudly. Hyunjin and Felix shift their gazes from the menu to the two men standing beside them and rise they eyebrows in sync. “I just met him and he’s here with his friend but he disappeared somewhere so I decided to bring Minnie here, to meet you.”

Even in the dimming lights Jisung catches how cherry-haired boy blushes at the nickname but manages to play it cool as Changbin doesn’t notice. He rises his hand and sends them a little wave, causing a giggle from Chan. Him and Jisung move on the couch so the newly arrived pair can sit.

“Jisung,” Changbin starts, “Could I go with you tomorrow? I left my car at the mechanics and—”

Jisung frowns. “Go where? We don’t have any concerts tomorrow, do we?”

Chan elbows him in the ribs. “Don’t tell me you forgot about Yeji’s birthday party.”

His eyes go wide for a moment and Hyunjin quickly notices, pouting right away. “You promised her you guys would perform! You know how she’s your biggest fan.”

“Yah, don’t worry. We’ve got so much going on right now with the album promotions, Jisung just forgot. But we will perform, especially for Yeji.”

Jisung nods excitedly. Hyunjin’s sister is a great girl — she always supports 3RACHA’s music and shows up to their concerts every time she can, even though she has her own group in Korea. They always got along, since their childhood, as they grew up together. Performing for her would be an honour.

“Then, I will give you a ride, Changbin. Just be ready so I don’t have to wait for you,” Han says finally and goes straight for the glass on the table full of a fancy drink. He downs it quickly and lets himself relax a bit. He’s going to have to work harder than before now since the expectations of people listening to their music and looking up to them are getting higher and higher.

Seungmin and Changbin disappear a few moments later, hand in hand, heading straight to the dance floor. Jisung wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up making out in the corner later. He just hopes he won’t have to witness that.

After drinking a few more colorful drinks Hyunjin and Felix ordered one by one, Jisung sighs. He feels a little bit dizzy — not drunk enough to stumble or fall. He can think straight and his very clever decision is to head out for fresh air. He gets up from the table, announcing to his friends engrossed in conversation that he is going outside and breaks through the crowd to find the back exit.

When he finally manages to step out of the building, he instantly regrets it. Noticing the black car, he tries to get back into the club but the door doesn’t open. He turns the door handle hurriedly.

However, as he looks behind his shoulder, he sees a few people with cameras getting out of their cars. “Fuck,” he mutters under his breath.

“There he is!” exclaims one of them. Jisung struggles with the handle, but it doesn’t give away and the door stay closed. “Mr Han!”

He feels the paparazzis come closer and closer so he turns around to face them. His heartbeat fastens in fear and fists clench in anger. His mind is spinning as he blocks one camera away with his hand but the others harassing him manage to snap a few shots of that too. Jisung knows, he’s sure that his face will be on the morning covers of every tabloid in the United States.

“Let me go,” he says through gritted teeth but they don’t listen.

“Jisung, one question!” he hears from every single side as the paparazzis surround him. He feels his breathing quicken and tries to calm down but yelling from the people trying to take pictures of him doesn’t help at all.

“Are you and Yeji dating?”

“Do you plan on going solo?”

“What is Bang Chan like as a leader?”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

Jisung groans, pushing past them with force. “Leave me the fuck alone,” he says as he gets out of the circle surrounding him. They still take tons of pictures of him and it would probably last even if he tried to run away, but the door swing open and Chan steps out with an angry expression. He pushes the paparazzis away, grabbing Jisung by his arm delicately. “Did they hurt you?” he asks quietly and the younger one shakes his head. “You heard him. Leave us the fuck alone,” the blond adds and pulls Jisung even more towards himself, shielding his friend away from the prying eyes and cameras.

They leave with the sound of groans and a man shouting “I got the best shots!”. Jisung doesn’t want to think of the mess him and his teammates will have to go through the following morning. He just clings to Chan and feels his heartbeat slow down gradually.

“God, I shouldn’t have left you alone,” Chan says, patting his younger friend’s head. “You alright?”

“I snapped at them and cursed them out,” Jisung says quietly as they stand in the club’s back entrance vestibule.

“They deserved that, Jisung. You should always protect yourself from them and don’t care about the consequences. They could’ve hurt you,” Chan whines. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I am, Channie hyung.” The ginger haired man sighs and focuses his gaze on his older friend. “Can we go home?”

The blond nods. “I’ll bring Hyunjin and Felix, don’t you even move an inch from here,” he says, walking up the stairs into the main part of the club. Jisung stares at him up till the moment he disappears behind the big door and leans over the wall. His head is throbbing and legs feel like giving out. He just really wants to go back home.

And maybe never leave his bed again.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

Minho goes straight to the table in the corner as he leaves the class, where his sister is handing out the prom tickets with her friends. He sighs, approaching them and before he even has a chance to speak up, Hyemin says, “You are not invited.”

Minho furrows his brows. “First, I’m here to give you lunch because you left it on the counter in the morning. Second, everyone is invited. It’s a school dance, Hyemin.”

“The operative word being ‘dance’,” she says and turns to her friend, mouthing, ‘embarrassing’.

“Hyemin, I don’t know if you remember but I’ve danced since I could walk. And anyways, I’m just going to cover it for the school paper.”

“Told you, Eul. He’s a loser,” Hyemin tells her friend and Minho rolls his eyes.

“Oh, Hyeminnie, are you bringing your camera to Los Angeles?”

“Of course! We still need pictures for our book,” she says, going through her bag. “Aha,” she lets out, taking out a glittered red notebook. “Jisung talking, walking, singing, dancing, shopping… breathing.”

Jesus. It isn’t even Hyemin’s camera to begin with. Minho got it for his twentieth birthday and if his sister is thinking about taking it without his permission to take pictures of a guys she’s been stalking for years… Never in her wildest dreams.

“You are not taking my camera, dipshit. And you are definitely not stalking this guy during our holidays, Hyemin.”

“This guy,” Eul mutters under her breath but quickly hides herself behind Hyemin when Minho sends her a glare.

“Mhm. Now you see who I gotta put up with,” Hyemin says and Eul looks at her sympathetically as if forbidding to invade someone’s privacy makes Minho the worst person in the entire Universe.

“We have every day of two weeks planned and there isn’t any place for—”

“Little brother,” Hyemin says, earning a glare from Minho. “When we go to California, you can play shuffleboard with grandma but I am going to meet Han Jisung.”

“I’m older than you. And, just how are you planning to do that?”

Eul gets the notebook out of Hyemin’s hands and opens it, holding it out so Minho could see. “Well, we’ve mapped out his every move for the past eighteen months!”

“Yeah. I know when and where he’s likely to be. About the time we leave to Los Angeles, he’ll be having his daily meeting with the managers,” she says and they both sigh dreamily. Minho furrows his eyebrows.

“You’ve creeped the shit out of me. Take this,” he tells his sister as he throws her lunchbox in her face. She barely catches it and is quick to yell at him but he already vanishes, running away from the crazy girls.

The trip to California is going to be a long and tiring one.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

Jisung wakes up because of his teammates, who barged into his house at eight in the morning to disturb his peaceful life. He groans when Changbin jumps onto his bed, clinging to him. “Hey, Jisungie. Did our little angel sleep well?”

Chan just chuckles and takes out random clothes from Jisung’s closet just to throw them at the younger who is still laying in his bed with Changbin crushing his ribs. “Get ready. The managers are arriving in half an hour.”

“Shit,” Jisung mutters, covering his face with his hands. He rubs his eyes and lets Changbin get him out of the bed.

“You feeling alright?” The older boy asks with a soft smile. Han just nods and changes from his pajamas into a black hoodie and black skinny trousers Chan got out of his closet. “I guess Chan is making breakfast,” Changbin says and Jisung finally notices that the eldest one disappeared from the room. The smell of coffee makes him relax a little and he sighs, getting up.

“Momo noona should be here in twenty,” Chan announces as they enter the kitchen downstairs. “Doyoung hyung texted me he can be a little late and Sana should arrive just in time.”

“You always keep a track of everything, Channie hyung,” Jisung says softly as he sits at the table. “You’re such a good leader for us.”

Chan coos at him and ruffles his hair. Jisung is sure that his friend knows how appreciated he is but he loves to remind him of that time to time.

They manage to down their mugs just in time for Sana and Momo to ring the bell. Jisung stands up from his seat to open the gate for them and sits back down next to Changbin on the couch in the living room. The women entered the youngest boy’s house smiling from ear to ear. Momo was Chan’s personal manager and Sana was Changbin’s. The two along with Jisung’s manager, Doyoung, made a team of 3RACHA managers and were highly appreciated by the trio as their job was always done perfectly.

They all greet each other and Sana sits down, thanking Chan for the cup of tea he prepared for her. Momo paces around the living room and after a peaceful moment she says, “I love this house. Doyoung has a good taste.”

“I do?” A man in the doorway asks with a smirk. Jisung waves at his manager with a smile. “Hi, everyone,” Doyoung says as he walks to the group sitting in the living room. “My surprise is coming in a few minutes, so get ready.”

“Surprise?” The three boys ask in unison.

“Ah, yes, you’re gonna love it,” Sana says. She smiles softly at them and reaches for the cup placed on the table in front of her. The moment she raises the cup to her mouth to drink her herbal tea, the bell rings, so Doyoung gets up to open the gate for the visitor.

“Jaebeom!” they hear from the corridor. 3RACHA members share confused looks between each other causing giggles from Sana and Momo. “I’m glad you could make it! Boys are right there. Nah, they don’t know anything. A total surprise!”

“Your chance to do what we always wanted,” says Sana before Doyoung enters the room with a man in his twenties by his side. “Good morning, Jaebeom. Nice to finally see you again.”

“Sana! Did you and Momo finally make your minds up? Since college you’ve been—”

“None of your business, Jaebeom,” interrupts him Momo with a smirk on her face. She glances at Sana quickly and Jisung knows, oh, he knows.

“3RACHA,” the guest — apparently Jaebeom — says and the three get up in sync to shake the man’s hand. “My boyfriend is a big fan of you.”

“We’re honoured,” Chan states and Jisung can’t disagree. His heart always throbs when someone says they like 3RACHA’s music because 3RACHA is his entire life, something he and his friends worked hard on and if people enjoy it as much as they do, it’s even more worth it.

Jaebeom steps aside to look around the place. “It’s yours, right?” he asks Jisung and he nods. “It looks great. Any neighbors moving out from the area?”

“Let’s get into the case, Jae,” Momo suggests.

“Right. I’ve been watching you. And I like what I see,” Jaebeom tells them. “You’re some talented, talented kids. You sing, you rap, you dance… I hope you can act?”

“They act like brats all the time so—”

Jaebeom snorts at Sana’s words and Changbin’s fake shocked facial expression. “I would like you three in a movie,” he states and Jisung’s eyes go wide. Chan chokes on his coffee and Changbin whistles.

“Thank you, sir. It coming from you is a great honor and even though we don’t have that much experience, we will definitely— I mean to work with someone like—”

Jaebeom interrupts Chan. “But, my people don’t necessarily agree with me. See, all they see is three spoiled kids from Korea who like to tangle with paparazzi.” He holds up a magazine and Jisung lowers his gaze onto his lap in shame.

The title of the cover says, ‘Pride of Korea doesn’t make us so proud’ and shows a picture of the group’s maknae screaming at paparazzis and covering the camera with his hand.

Doyoung stands up immediately. “Jae, you know how the tabloids are. They manipulate photos to—”

“Yeah, I know. I get it, I get it. Look, all I’m saying is a chance like this comes along once in a lifetime and I want to give you a shot but you have to prove that you are serious and mature.”

“How do we do that if they harass us everywhere we go?” Changbin speaks up.

“On Monday, I’m gonna meet with my people in the agency, try to buy their trust for you. In the meantime, all three of you gotta keep your faces out of those shit magazines. No press. Good nor bad. Understood?”

“We can do that,” Chan states and hears Momo mutter ‘You have to’ under her breath. He smiles at her reassuringly and she does the same.

“In fact. Stay home,” Jaebeom suggests. Jisung isn’t really going to argue — he would love to stay home and binge watch some stupid american TV show that is going to swallow his brain cells but he knows he can’t. Yet, he doesn’t say anything but nod.

Jaebeom stands up from the couch and Doyoung is first to shake his hand. “Thank you for thinking about them. We’re gonna watch them until you and your people decide on something.”

“We appreciate this chance, sir. We’re not going to disappoint,” says Chan and Jaebeom points a finger to him.

“I know you won’t.”

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

The twelve-hours plane ride would have been manageable if Hyemin wasn’t sat next to Minho and talking about Han Jisung to him the whole way there. Minho was mad at their parents for buying themselves a gold pass to the No-Hyemin-Zone and booked seats on the other side of the plane. Too bad they didn’t think about saving their eldest son’s ass too.

“I get it. You think he's hot. You think his eyes look like the best chocolate. I really get it. Now, please, I have never begged you for anything in my entire existence, so please. Just please, shut up.” Minho pops his earbuds back into his ears, but Hyemin yanks one out.

“You seriously brought homework?” she asks, pointing to the book in his hands.

Minho really wants to claw her eyes out. “No,” he says with a fake smile. “It's called reading. You should try it sometime.”

“What? I read!” she argues.

“Magazines don’t count,” he deadpans. “And fanfiction. You probably read those Jisung and reader fanfictions.” Hyemin remains silent and Minho just shakes his head in disappointment. “I rest my case.”

Once they've landed in Los Angeles, they took a taxi to the Car Rental and Minho was convicted to waiting outside the building with his younger sister who apparently doesn’t know how to shut her mouth.

Their parents who are trying to rent a car, left him with her for ‘safety purposes’.They must’ve realized leaving Hyemin alone would result in running through the city trying to find Han Jisung or one of his friends.

“Jesus,” Hyemin whines, turning the pages of a magazine for teenagers. “What's taking them so damn long? Just get me a car already so I can go meet Jisung.”

“Hate to burst your bubble,” he says ironically with a fake smile. “"But, Hyeminnie darling, you cannot drive.”

She furrows her eyebrows and pulls her license from her pocket. She shoves it in Minho's face, as if he hasn’t seen it a million times before when she keeps showing off back in Korea. “License. That's L-I-C— what.”

Minho has distracted her from her spelling bee by pointing at something, which she quickly turns to. He smugly starts reading it out loud, not being able to stop an evil smirk from crawling onto his face.

“You must be at least 22-years old to drive or rent a car from Los Angeles Car Rental” Hyemin whimpers. “Want me to spell that for you? That's T-W-E-N-T-Y-T-W—”

She cuts him off by yelling, “I'm almost twenty-two. Surely they'll make an exception. How else am I supposed to do what I wanna do?”

“And what would that be?” Mom asks, appearing out of nowhere. Minho grins, but then his smirk falters when Hyemin’s excuse is ‘taking Minho sightseeing, because the only thing he’d do without her is read all day’.

Minho looks up at her, as she's now standing behind him, and subtly mouths ‘I’m gonna end you’.

“Well, in that case, I think Minho can drive,” says dad cheerfully, happy his children are finally making amends.

Oh no.

“Jesus, I totally forgot about your license, my sweet brother!” Hyemin clings to him. If only she knew that Minho's gonna strangle her to death later.

They manage to fit all the suitcases into the rented black jeep but of course, Hyemin has to play 3RACHA’s album on the radio and neither mom, nor dad really mind. Minho does, but he learnt to accept that his hatred for Han Jisung meant less than his sister’s love for him.

They arrive at their grandmother’s house a dozens minutes later. It was weird at first for Minho to meet his grandma’s new boyfriend but he was quite a nice guy and took care of her well. Mom of course exaggerates when she sees her mother-in-law on a ladder.

“Oh, Sooyoung, calm down! Aaron had my back!”

Minho is quick to defend and, getting out of the car, he states, “Can’t you see they take care of each other, mama?”

“Min-ah! You’ve grown up so much.” Grandma hugs him tightly and kisses both of his cheeks. After ruffling his hair, she says, “I missed you so much, Minho. You haven’t visited me at all!”

“You know how I’ve been drowning in work now that I’m going to college and all…”

Minho smiled at his grandma softly. She holds his hand up till Hyemin comes out of the car too and slowly approaches the elder woman. “Hello,” she says. Grandma doesn’t wait any longer and hugs her  
granddaughter tightly. Aaron coos at them and Minho has to agree that for the first time he remembers, Hyemin looks peaceful in grandma’s arms.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

“Grandma says stop pacing,” Minho says as he enters the room Hyemin stays in in for the next two weeks. "You're creating a draught."

“Oh my God. I just got a text from Eul,” she says at the speed of lighting, still bouncy on her feet. “She just got a message and, according to a blog about Jisung, he’s performing with 3RACHA at Yeji’s birthday party! Minho gives her a ‘why should i care’ look but she doesn’t spare him a glance. “I have to go!”

He dodges it easily. “Yeah. Good luck convincing mom and dad of that.”

“You have to go with me,” she blurts out.

“Are you out of your mind? No.”

“They'll let me go if you go, too.”

“Oh, what a pity you’re staying home tonight,” he says, faking a sympathetic expression.

“I'll do anything. Just... Please, Minho.”

Anything did seem oddly satisfying.

“Anything?” She nods. “Okay. I’ll tell you what I want later.”

He leaves the room right before she squeaks (probably out of excitement or some other miraculous feeling that Minho didn’t care about). “Be ready in half an hour!” He screams after stepping out of the door.

Of course, Hyemin arrives to the garage late, wearing some clothes that seemed to fit for a party. “Dressing up like this took you this long?” He teased.

“Oh, shut up and drive.”

So he does. They argue a few times because Hyemin is an awful guide and doesn’t know how to read maps on her phone and Minho almost smacks her in the face and he’s so close, oh, so close to just pushing her out of the car while driving.

After a long while, a drive that probably has taken them longer than necessary, they arrive at the club. “To heart” says the neon sign and once again, Hyemin squeals.

“Stop here,” she says.

“Are you crazy? This is a no-parking zone.”

“When one person stays in the car, it's not parking. It's waiting.”

“I’ll get a ticket.”

“You won’t,” Hyemin says and quickly gets out of the car before her brother has a chance to stop her. Their parents are going to kill him, for sure. If anything happens, he’s going to be grounded for the rest of his life and even the promised ‘anything’ from Hyemin won’t be worth it.

He spends the next hour waiting for his sister’s sign that she’s alive. She might’ve been killed by the crowd and he would never know. What would he tell their parents?

‘Oh, you’ve trusted me and I took your daughter to a club where she got trampled by the crowd.’

Minho gets mad. He gets really mad because she should’ve been back by now and the only thing surrounding him is silence and he loves silence but right now, his own sister made him hate it. He pens the car door and stalks over towards the line, but he knows he won't find his sister until next year if he waits there. So, he walks to the side of the building, away from the crowd, hoping there's a door  
there that'll let him in somehow.

Soon enough, he finds a door which reads ‘stage door’. However, he doesn't even have time to read ‘authorized personnel only’ written below when the door is slammed open in his face.

Minho falls back onto the concrete, holding onto his forehead like it might fall off. Minho gets even more mad.

“Did I just hit you?” a voice says, crouching down beside him.

Minho scoffs. “No, the door hit me by itself.”

“This is not good.”

“For you or for me? 'Cause right now it feels a lot worse for me, you dipshit.” Minho feels around for his glasses. He sighs in relief when he feels them and quickly puts them back on.

“This is really not good.”

And then Minho sees it. This bloke in from of him, this ginger-haired, lanky dude… “Wait... You're Han—” The guy places a hand on Minho’s mouth which makes him wince in disgust and he bites his finger on reflex. “Hands off.”

Han Jisung — apparently — doesn’t even care, because he quickly says:

“I will give you front-row tickets to my next concert if you don't scream my name.”

“I don't want to see your stupid concert,” Minho whisper-yells, feeling blood trickle down his cheek. His heartbeat quickens as he sees the scarlet liquid on his fingers.

“Whoa, okay. You need a doctor.” Han Jisung looks to his side, watching a car approach them. “Come on, come on. Come on, come on, come on.” He reaches for Minho’s hand but he snatches it out of the stranger's reach, getting up himself, stumbling a little.

“I'm not going anywhere with you.” Minho says, but his vision is blurry and he can barely stand on his feet.

“You need a doctor,” the guy repeats. Minho might as well see a doctor. He's not going to be able to drive home like this, neither find his sister.

Oh, God.

“My sister,” he mutters, growing more dizzy. “She's up in the club.”

The car's driver steps out, revealing a blond-haired guy in a fancy black suit. “Jesus, what happened?” he asks.

But Han Jisung sternly says, “Hyung, help now. Questions later. Just get him in the car.”

The blond male starts to walk behind Minho, but he stops him. “I can get in a car myself, thanks.” He opens the door and sits down on expensive leather seats.

“Who is this?” the stranger asks. Minho might’ve seen him somewhere but right now his head feels really weird and he doesn’t really want to think about it. Han Jisung shrugs, then turns to Minho. “What's  
your name?”

Minho furrows his brows. “Dude, I'm not telling you my name. And I don't need a doctor. Just—Just drive me home.” Then suddenly, a wave washes over him and he suddenly isn't feeling too hot.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Do not hurl in Layla! I just got her detailed!” The blond yells, which only leads to Minho vomiting onto his shoes. The guy screams bloody murder. “No! My favourite shoes!”

Minho wipes his mouth on his hand. “They were really ugly, hyung,” Han Jisung says, then reaches across Minho's lap to close his door.

“I can open but I can also close the door myself.” Minho says, glaring at the man next to him.

Han Jisung looks startled, but then he nods. “Habits.” He opens Minho's window with the button on his left, then throws a pair of keys to his friend and tells him to ‘get his sister home’. .

“Does your sister have a name or is that also confidential information?” The ginger-haired male asks, to which Minho's glare darkens.

“Hyemin,” Minho says through gritted teeth, growing more and more annoyed. “Just look for an annoying Korean teenager.”

“Jesus Chr— You owe me big time!”

“You want some water?” Han Jisung says, driving away from his friend. “It’s in the backseat. Can you re—”

“I don’t want your stupid water,” Minho groans.

“Okay, okay. Don’t have to be so mad.”

Minho squints his eyes at the man and points a finger to him. “You literally hit me with a door and now you’re taking me somewhere and your friend is looking for my sister and my parents are going to fucking kill me.”

“Ah, don’t worry! Your sister is going to be fine. Chan hyung will get her home soon and I am taking you to the hospital. It’s okay.”

Han Jisung flashes him a smile but Minho can only roll his eyes. He doesn’t wait for Jisung to open the passenger door as they arrive at the hospital. They enter through the backdoor and Jisung is leading  
him the entire time.

Minho is then sat at the examination bed behind the curtains away from the ginger-haired boy’s gaze. A nurse does something with his head and then checks his blood pressure and leaves right away.

After a while, however, a doctor appears next to him and after a short greeting and a slight smile immediately gets to the point.

“Follow the light with your eyes,” he says,, holding a medical torch in front of Minho's face.

He's always hated doctors, and how they're so demanding. It doesn't make him feel any less nauseous right now, either.

“Well,” the man says, turning off the torch with a click. “I've done a thorough exam, and the CT scan was normal,” he smiles. Minho doesn't smile back. “Everything looks good.”

Minho reaches up to feel his forehead, but where it had bled before has now been covered up by simple bandage, it seems. “Do I need stitches?”

The man shakes his head. “It's a very small wound. It'll heal just fine. No worries.”

“So… no-name is fine?” Han Jisung asks, opening the curtain that shielded Minho and the doctor from him.

“Out, you brat,” says the doctor. Han Jisung obediently disappears behind the curtain again. The man continues. “There's no sign of head trauma, and I'm absolutely sure you don't have a concussion.”

Minho frowns. “How come I threw up?”

“Maybe it was something you ate… or maybe it was a reaction to meeting that dumbass.”

“It’s a curtain, Younghyun.” Han Jisung’s head appears between the curtains again. “I can hear you.”

“No, you can’t.”

Minho furrows his brows once again. “It’s my brother.” They both smile and Minho feels sick again.

“Can I go now?” He asks persistently.

“Yes, but I want you to put an ice pack on that bump until you get home. And try not to touch or wet the band aid. I'll be right back.” Younghyun leaves quickly after that.

Scaring Minho to death, Han Jisung’s idiotically loud ringtone sounds. He picks up after excusing himself from Minho and his deathly glare. He doesn't mean to eavesdrop, but the dude is literally five feet away from him with a thin curtain between them.

“Hello. Doyoung? What? Who? Where? N-Now? Okay. Just stall them. I will be right there.”

Then Minho hears Younghyun’s voice again, talking to the ginger-haired boy. “There might be a problem... my waiting room is filled with big guys with big cameras.”

“The paparazzi found me?” Minho hears someone groan, likely the musician. “Okay, Yonghyun, please tell me you’re still driving that ugly-ass car.”

“I'm still paying off six years of medical school, you know that.”

“Perfect. How about a trade?”

Minho can’t hear anything else from their conversation and after a second or two, Jisung’s head pops between the curtains again and, with a grin, he tells Minho they’re going to have to stop somewhere but then he’ll be dropped off at home straight away.

“I can open the door by myself, damn it!” Minho yells as the musician walks behind him towards his door when they leave the hospital.

“Shh!” Jisung whispers, climbing in the driver's seat.

“‘Shh’ yourself!”

“I haven't even said anything!” He yells as he starts the engine.

“Keep it that way,” Minho blurts out, angry.

“Calm down, okay?”

Calm down. Minho would be calm if he was at his grandma’s house, tucked in bed, reading or eating some good food. But no, he’s stuck with a world-star in a car that looks like it’s going to fall apart any second, heading a destination he doesn’t know.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“What's wrong with me? Nothing. Nothing. I'm looking forward to being grounded until I'm forty!”

“Oh, is that why you're so crabby?” Minho feels him stare. “Aren't you like... twenty-something years old anyway? Grounded? Really?”

“You better watch your mouth or I will seriously hurt you,” hel threatens, gripping onto the sides of his seat to keep him from strangling this guy.

“Oh, yeah. You're definitely crabby.”

“I'm not crabby!”

“Defensive,” the musician corrects. “I don't even know your name!”

“Fuck you, dude. Seriously. Fuck you.”

They both keep quiet until the arrival at the biggest house Minho has ever seen with his eyes. And he remembers himself, as a child, thinking that if he'd somehow win the lottery, he'd buy a house like this. As soon as they step in, the singer throws Minho's hoodie over his head to hide his face, accidentally bumping against his hurt forehead.

“Ouch,” Minho lets out as the ginger-haired boy pulls him up the stairs. “Stop hurting me!”

“Sorry. I just…”

“Where are we even going? Hello!”

“Keep your voice down!” He whisper-yells as they enter a room.

“You’ve got to be kidding. First, you hit me with a door. Then, you kidnap me to the hospital and now hide me in your house,” Minho laughs bitterly, turning to Han Jisung

The man scrunches his nose. “I'm not… I'm not hiding you. It’s just that I don't want these particular people to see you right now.” He looks out of the balcony and turns around to face Minho.

“Because I’m not a pop-star.”

Jisung hesitates for a moment. “ I just don’t want anyone to ask questions. Would you like to be asked whether we’re dating? That’s what I thought. I'll be right back. Just… stay.”

He leaves the room and practically runs down the stairs. “Hey!” he greets people here and there. When he finally reaches the garden, he finds Doyoung and Jaebeom chatting by the pool with a man he didn’t know. No Changbin and Chan in sight.

“Jisung! Hello,” Jaebeom greets him, but the younger just nods. “Doyoung invited me and you know how it is, my boyfriend came with me and… Jae, you wanted to ask for something, right?”

“Yeah, hello, Jisung! I was wondering if you could sing a song. You know, I’ve heard from Doyoung hyung that you’re working on a solo. Would you mind sharing some?”

Jisung is slightly taken aback but he nods enthusiastically. “I’ll just bring my guitar. Be right back.”

“You’re gonna love this,” he hears his manager say and he smirks. He quickly makes his way back and sits on a stool nearby, getting attention of all the guests.

“Hey, everybody. I hope you’re having fun tonight. We’ve got a special guest today, so… this song is something I’ve been working on for a while now. Please, listen.”

As soon as Minho hears the sound of a guitar coming from outside, he steps out of the room onto the balcony and his mouth parts in awe. Jisung’s voice sounds completely different on the records than acoustically, singing a song never heard before, that doesn’t get on Minho’s nerves because it’s not being played by his sister twenty-four seven.

He leans on the balustrade and closes his eyes, letting the chilly, evening wind blow into his face. After a moment, when Jisung finishes, Minho leaves the room. He quickly goes down the stairs and hopes every guest is focused on congratulating the star on his wonderful song and they won’t even spare him a glance.

But he’s wrong, because just as he was about to step out of the door, Han Jisung materializes next to him and scares him to death. Not literally, but Minho’s heart picks up a beat and he places a hand over his own chest. “Jesus,” he lets out. “Don’t ever do that again.”

Jisung shushes him again and pulls him into another room. “Where were you going?”

“Anywhere but here. You said you'd take me home. When?”

“Just pick a car. I'll take you home right now.”

“No.”

Jisung shrugs. “Fine. We'll walk. Where do you live?”

“Northridge,” replies Minho in an annoyed tone.

“Wonderful!” The singer says, a fake, bitter laugh in his voice. Then, his face deadpans. “We'll get there on Tuesday.”

Minho is the one to shrug now, his face dead-serious. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Jisung looks mind-blogged, as he focuses his gaze on Minho’s face. He studies his round glasses, rised eyebrows and full, pink lips that are clenched in a thin line. This guy is mad. And Jisung has  
no idea how much he’d last before he blows off.

They stare at each other until Minho sighs and shifts his gaze to the wall, where his eyes find a board with car keys placed on the hooks. He rises an eyebrow and comes closer. He liked the sunflower keyring best, so he took it off the hook and handed it to Jisung.

“Here are the rules. You drive me straight back to my grandma’s house and leave. And we never see each other again.”

“Gladly, babe.”

Minho exhales sharply. He can survive another while in the silent company of this ginger-haired idiot and then he’s going to be free of him and he’s going to kill his sister and live peacefully for the rest of his years. That sounds like a good plan. He smiled dreamily, thinking of how good it would be if his sister just disappeared.

“Wow, who would’ve thought. You can smile,” Jisung teased and Minho squinted his eyes at him. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. You just look-”  
lowkey cute when you’re not yelling at me.

Jisung would have never said it out loud. It also is not his mind right now that is speaking. Definitely. He sends Minho one last look before driving out of the garage and onto the road.

“Nevermind.”

Minho doesn’t understand how driving to Hollywood in a Range Rover counts as ‘staying undercover’ but it seemed that the ginger-haired man was convinced it would work. And Minho, now fully aware of his surroundings, renders Han Jisung's driving absolutely abysmal and offered to take turns driving— but the musician wasn't having it.

“I promised I'd take you home.”

“Yeah, but I'd like to arrive alive.”

“I’m not driving that bad. I’m just tired, okay?”

After a few moments of silence — precious, precious silence — Jisung realizes that he still, after spending so much time together, doesn’t know the name of the boy sitting on the passenger seat next to him.

“Just tell me,” Jisung whines.

“No.”

“Come on. I can’t guess for life. Please.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to live with it, babe.”

“We’re at the petnames stage already? Wow, slow down. I still gotta buy a ring first before I drop on one knee.”

Minho sighs. “I’m not the one you should propose too, fortunately.” Because of Jisung’s confused expression, he continues, “My sister is like… the biggest fan of yours. I think she knows everything about you. It’s highkey creepy.”

Jisung nods. “And you are… not a fan.”

“I don’t listen to pop music.”

“3RACHA doesn’t only make pop music. The majority of our songs is rap,” he says.

“I don’t like it anyways,” Minho states sternly.

“So .. ,” the ginger-haired male tries, “if I'd be making the music you do listen to, you'd be a fan?”

“I think you have a concussion.” Minho must’ve said something very funny, because Jisung snorted loudly and kept a grin on until they reached Northridge. Apparently, he still wasn’t satisfied.

“Come on. Can you please tell me your name? I won’t tell anyone.”

“You know what? I don't get it,” Minho says angrily, turning his body so he's facing the other male driving. “You're so struck on the paparazzi not respecting your privacy, but here you are, not respecting  
mine.”

The world-star’s grip on the steering wheel tightens. “That's not the same.”

“Yes, yes it is. Turn left here.” Minho watches as Jisung’s jaw remains clenched as if he has a right to be angry at him up until they reach the right street. He rolls his eyes, saying “Stop here.” He unbuckles his seatbelt slowly, waiting for Jisung to say something stupid to annoy him, but the singer remains quiet, waiting for Minho to leave. He sighs, his heart feeling heavy. His hand hangs over the door handle for a while before he opens the door and silently gets off the car. “It’s Minho,” he says before closing the door quickly and marching through the path leading to the front door.

Jisung sits inside, starstruck as a smile creeps onto his face. He bites his lower lip but the grin quickly vanishes when he looks into the rear-view mirror and sees a familiar car.

“Great,” he mutters under his breath. He quickly puts on a mask from the glove compartment and leaves the car, locking it. He’s almost running to the front door, his heartbeat quickening not necessarily because of the run.

Jaebeom had told him to stay out of the sight of paparazzis and he was going to.

Jisung knocks on the door quietly, hoping that Minho hears it. He does and, after a short moment, he whispers, “What are you doing? Go away.”

Jisung stops him from closing the door again and says, “I’ll give you five thousand dollars if you do me this one favour.”

“It’s not a favour if you pay for it,” Minho rises his eyebrows.

“Is that a yes?”

“You gotta be out of the garage before five in the morning. Five! Do you understand?”

Jisung nods enthusiastically. He puts his hands over Minho’s cheeks and kisses his forehead. “Thank you for saving my ass,” he says and quickly vanishes, leaving Minho at the doorstep with a pounding heart.

It wasn’t until late at night that Jisung realises what he’s done. He doesn’t regret it at all, it’s just that his mind swirls around Minho a little too much now, but it’s not like he minds.

When Minho goes to breakfast the next morning, grandma excitedly tells Hyemin, “They're doing a story on television about those guys you like so much.” The entire family sitting at the table expect just Hyemin running towards the TV, but they observe in shock as Minho runs for his life, too.

He grabs the remote first, but Hyemin is a strong teenage girl and there is nothing in the world that could stop her, her older brother included. She easily tricks her brother to let go and turns up the volume.

“Although Yeji — apparently — has no romantic relation with any of the 3RACHA guys, they all arrived at her birthday party and performed especially for her,” the woman on the TV says. “Although no one saw them arrive at the fabulous Club ‘To Heart’, witnesses confirm that 3RACHA did indeed make a secret appearance to sing for the packed house of well-wishers. Partygoers say one of the world stars — Han Jisung — left the club immediately following his performance, only to magically reappear at his Beverly Hills mansion several hours later... with someone else.” Minho’s eyes widen, his mouth agape. The woman continues. “My sources tell me this mystery person might be stealing the heart of our favourite star.”

Minho quickly steals the remote from Hyemin, who loudly protests once he's changed the channel. “Stop! I wanna see that!”

“Why? It's all lies and slander!”

“Why do you care? You don't even like him!” Hyemin screams for her life, causing the rest of the family to come to the living room. Minho blushes.

“I care about the truth. And I'm pretty sure that's not it.”

“Guys, knock it off,” dad interrupts.

“I know what!” says grandma. “It's a beautiful day, go to the beach, sunbathe, swim a little. You’re gonna have lots of fun!”

“But I wanna drive the car,” Hyemin pouts. “But I can’t drive the rented one.”

“Oh, you can take Petunia! She’s in the garage.” Minho’s sister’s eyes go wide.

“Really?” she asks. “Thanks, grandma.”

“Take Minho with you,” adds mom. “You can’t go unsupervised!”

Minho furrows his brows. “Am I on vacation or working as a babysitter?”

“Don’t be so sour, Min-ah! You have to get along with Hyeminnie,” says grandma. “I know it’s hard but you were just the same as a teenager.”

“I wasn’t going crazy over some—”

“Minho! If you wanna go, get into the car right now or I’m leaving without you,” yells Hyemin from the outside, causing a groan from Minho. His grandma pushes him in the direction of the garage, sending him a soft smile.

“Get back for dinner, your mom is cooking,” she says and then disappears in the house. Minho has no way out, so he, lingering, heads towards the garage to get into his grandmother's old pink car and let his sister drive them to the beach. The car ride is not so peaceful as she plays 3RACHA’s songs, as if Minho could get away from Jisung’s voice singing in his head without her doing that.

“Hello? I thought we were going to Venice,” Minho comments as he gets out of Petunia. “Why are we in Malibu?”

Hyemin opens the trunk to the car, throwing Minho a towel. “Duh? Because Jisung surfs in Malibu.”

Minho rolls his eyes and groans. “Yeah... I'll stay in the car.”

“Oh, just like you did last time? No way. You're coming with me,” she says and pulls him by his hand from the parking lot onto the sand. “Today's the day,” Hyemin tells Minho as if he cares, once they’ve found a spot. “He's here somewhere. I can feel it.”

“I doubt it.”

“I hope he's not here with that girl… Yeji. She's totally not cute enough for him…”

“They’re not a thing. And, I don’t think you’re the one to decide this,” Minho mutters angrily, sitting down on the sunbed.

His sister ignores his words and says, “I wonder what his eyes look like. Up close.”

Minho sighs. “Like chocolate. Dark chocolate.”

“Oh, I bet. I'm gonna go swimming now. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Please drown,” he murmurs.

When Minho decides to look around as he has nothing else to do, he notices the Hat. He curses inwardly. How can he be so stupid to come here? He doesn't know what's happening with his body when he's getting up from the sunbed. It was odd how a stranger, a celebrity, paid so much attention to Minho and made sure he came home safe... sort of. He curses. He always banters with his sister, but bantering with this guy was different. Minho's witty personality was somehow boosted around Jisung and with full force, Minho feels like his legs are going to give out.  
The Hat. Minho will just go to him to collect the hat. How could he even steal his grandpa’s hat from the garage? So, Minho doesn't but kinda does know what possesses him as he walks in the direction of the seat Han Jisung is in. As Minho notices, he’s fully dressed — just like himself — and his clothes are totally not appropriate for the beach.

“I've come to collect what's mine,” he says, standing beside the seat. Han Jisung, with shades covering his eyes, nearly jumps out of his skin, but then he looks up and smiles and Minho notices the crooked teeth and. Christ. He really wants to run away.

“Uh-uh, it's mine,” Jisung says.

“No, it’s my grandpa’s. He used to wear it when he took me fishing. And there’s a ‘Min’ embroidered inside,” Minho smiles sadly. Jisung must’ve noticed, because he quickly takes it off, not caring about the people surrounding him, apparently.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“No, you keep it. It kind of looks good on you,” Minho says and Jisung rises his eyebrows. “What? I can be nice if I want to.”

“Yeah, sure.” Jisung looks away, focusing his gaze on the ocean spreaded in front of them. “Now, what are you doing here? I bet you hate the beach,” he says as he takes his sunglasses off.

“I spend one day with you and you already think you know me, wow.”

The ginger-haired man laughs out loud, than quickly covers his mouth with his left hand and puts his sunglasses back on with his right one.

“Paranoid,” Minho sing songs, but the musician seems to genuinely fear for his safety. “And what are you doing here? Go home.”

“I tried,” he says sadly.

“And?”

Jisung sighs. “You wouldn't understand.”

“Ah. So you think you're so special that a nobody like me couldn't possibly understand how hard it is to be you?”

The musician scoffs and he turns to Minho. “Okay,"” he says, “there were about ten paparazzi parked outside my house with their cameras.”

“Oh. That is tough... not.”

“See? I told you you wouldn't understand,” the ginger-haired man sighs. “I just need to get home in a car the paparazzi won't recognise.” Minho shrugs. He sinks in his chair and starts wiping his glasses on his sweater. He hates the beach. “So what are you driving?”

Minho bursts out laughing, which sends Jisung wincing. “Oh, you'd love it. It's a classic. Really vintage.”

“Perfect. I could pay you,” Jisung is quickly to say.

“You say that, but you still owe me five grand for staying at garage of my grandma.”

“You live with your grandparents?”

Minho shakes his head. “No. I live in Seoul. We're just visiting.”

“Ah. I see. But, will you accept the money?”

Minho snorts. “Oh, Definitely. That's another five grand for me. And I will also need your keys.”

“Why?”

“Well, if you’re taking our car, you can’t leave us without one.” He can see the ginger-haired boy hesitate and wince. “Keys. Come on.”

Han Jisung looks like he's in absolute agony when he hands Minho the keys to his car. He snatches it out of the musician's hand greedily. “Hey!” Jisung warns. “She's a–She's a three hundred and thirty-five horsepower, first generation '69 with original paint.” Minho fake gags and smirks right after. “ love Cher, okay?”

Minho claps the blonde on his shoulder and, before he heads to the previous place he occupied, he says, “I think you still have that concussion.” Jisung follows him with his gaze and watches as he crouches next to his sister’s bag laying next to her while she’s sleeping just to switch the car keys and show Jisung a thumb up.

They leave for the parking lot together and Minho hands him the keys to Petunia. He stops in front of a pink car, screaming, “Hey!” at Jisung who went past it. “Jisung, meet Petunia.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Minho bites back a laugh. “She runs like a top,” he says, but then his voice grows serious. “Get her back here in an hour.”

The musician reluctantly takes the keys, and then nearly gets swallowed by the concrete as he throws himself to the ground. “Down. Get down.” He pulls Minho to the ground with him — and that's when he sees the large, black vans.

“I can't believe it,” he says through gritted teeth. “How do they know where to find me?”

“My sister knows where to find you, and she's from Seoul.”

At least ten people jump out of the cars with huge, threatening cameras when Han Jisung shoves his sunglasses in Minho's hands. “Put these on.”

“I already wear glasses, thanks.”

“Just put them on!”

“I won't be able to see shit!” Minho whispers back. The ginger-haired man groans out loud and pushes Minho towards the passenger seat. Minho, still crouching, climbs obediently into the car.

“Put your head down,” Jisung instructs once Minho is in.

“Hey, idiot, we're two dudes. I think we're fine.” Jisung’s eyes dilate at the words, but then he coughs.

“They make up everything. Just get your head down.”

Minho doesn’t like being bossed around but Jisung’s stern voice makes him obey. “Fine, fine, it's down.”

“Okay, okay. Throw your hood over your face.” When he notices the way Minho looks at him, he adds, “Just do what I say. Just this once.” Minho glares at him, but hides his face with his hood.

And, they get out of the parking lot alive. Barely.

“So, how long do I have to drive around with you this time?” Minho asks, leaning against the window.

“Only until the paparazzi leave the beach.”

He sighs. “How will you know they've left?”

“I just know,” Jisung answers, putting his sunglasses back on. Even in Petunia, he has to maintain his ‘cool’ vibe.

“Let's go do something.”

“Like what?” Minho clucked.

“Anything.”

“You really need to get that concussion checked out,” Minho says and looks out of the window. The pop star rolls his eyes.

“Is going somewhere that weird of a suggestion?”

“We're here to escape the paparazzi, and then you want to go somewhere—out in the open. That doesn't add up. Like, at all.”

“You're a bit of a smartass, aren't you?”

“Someone of us has to be,” he shrugs with a self-satisfied grin. “And I’m older than you. Show some respect, brat.”

Jisung furrows his brows and asks, “How old are you, then?”

“I’m twenty-two. And last time I was informed by my sister, you were twenty last week.”

The musician nods and doesn’t say anything else. After a while of driving, he turns on the radio and giggles suddenly. “Oh, no,” Minho lets out.

“You know this song, don’t you?” Jisung laughs out loud and turns up the volume.

“My sister always plays it the loudest. How could I not know it?” Minho sighs as the song goes on with Jisung mouthing the lyrics or rapping quietly. When his part comes up, Minho uncontrollably starts singing but when he realizes what he does, he shuts up immediately.

“I like your voice,” Jisung says, surprising Minho. He was sure the musician would tease him for knowing the lyrics but as the older man turned his head to the side to look at him, Jisung was smiling softly.

They drove around for a few moments during which Minho kept looking out of the window, appreciating the view outside. “Hey, I need my sunglasses back,” Jisung says suddenly, startling the elder.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he smirks. “I kinda like them.”

Jisung sighs. “I’ll give them to you later.”

“For real? ‘Cause my friends won’t believe that I, Lee Minho, actually have a pair of glasses that belong to Han Jisung and that he has worn! Will you sign them for me?”

Jisung fakes a laugh. “Very funny.”

“What? No, but seriously. I want them.”

It seems like the musician is thinking because after a moment, he nods and says, “Yeah, you can keep them. You look good in them.”

“Oh,” Minho lets out and quickly turns his head to face the window. “Thanks.”

“What have you seen since you've been here?” Jisung asks, humming the song on the radio.

The elder sighs. “Nothing. I’ve been busy following you around.” He notices the way Jisung stiffens and adds, “With my sister. She idolizes you. I mean, I, on the other hand, can’t care less about you or your city.”

“Well,” he starts, “I know you don’t like me, but don’t take it out on Los Angeles because it’s one of the greatest cities in the world.” Minho snorts. “In fact, I’ll be your tour guide.”

“I thought you needed to get home.”

“I’ve got something better to do now.”

_There’s something about the sunshine, baby  
I’m seeing you in a whole new light_

Jisung can't help grinning himself when he sees Minho smile from ear to ear for the first time in such a long period of time. When they visit Avenue of the Stars, they take a thousand photos with a camera they have bought at the Rodeo Drive. Time passes swiftly as they move and explore the city together. Jisung feels as if he is looking at everything for the first time, getting to know Minho and himself, and is glad that no one hooks him on the street. Nobody asks for autographs or photos. Nobody wants him to sing in the middle of the street or call his group mates on FaceTime. He can be himself with Minho by his side.

“Are you hungry?” he asks the older one when he notices a restaurant nearby but Minho shakes his head. Suddenly, he clings to him and whines.

“I wanna head home.”

“Ah, you’re a big baby! Already tired?” he giggles. “We can go back, I think they paps have already left the beach.” Jisung slips his hand into Minho’s as they both slowly walk to the place Petunia is parked at.

“What a perfect day,” Minho sighs as he gets comfortable at the passenger’s seat. His eyes feel heavy but he doesn’t let the eyelids fall. He keeps his eyes on Jisung while he’s driving, a soft melody coming out of the radio. After dozens minutes, Jisung hits the steering wheel hard. Minho frowns, but then he sees the black vans in the mirror.

“I need to lose them.”

Minho opens the glove box and takes out a map, which he bought before coming here. He opens it quickly and says, “Take your next left.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

But Minho has only glanced at the map in rush and they end up in the literal middle of nowhere until the elder announces, “If you take your next left, the road loops back to the highway.” But then he twists and turns the map until he's not so sure anymore.

“This isn't even a road anymore,” Jisung says. “This is a firebreak, it has to be.”

“Eh, just keep driving.”

After ten minutes the musician says, “That last sign said ‘Deer crossing’. There are no deer.”

And after another five minutes of bickering, Minho groans. “You know, you complain more than my sister.”

Jisung completely ignores his teasing and asks, “Are we on the right road or not?”

“Uh. Not?”

“Show me the map.”

“Keep your eyes on the road. I'm the navigator.”

“Oh, that's what you call it?”

Minho glares at him. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“It means you're such a know-it-all. God, you're the king of snap judgements. ‘Turn here! This is the right road! I'm sure of it!’” Jisung snaps, mocking Minho's accent.

“What kind of buffoonery are you on thinking you can talk to me like this?”

“Oh, sure, he thinks he's the king in general.”

“Just move the fucking car.”

Just as Jisung yells out “We’re not moving”, he looks at Minho with eyes that would kill anyone who doesn't have a backbone, and then turns his attention back on the road. He hits the gas, but nothing's happening.

Minho looks out of his window. ‘Fuck’, he thinks, the car is literally drowning in mud. The car sinks in deeper as Jisung is hitting the pedal and he lets out a shriek, which Minho would have made fun of if he wasn't so fucking pissed off.

“Wait, wait. I'll help you!” Jisung yells as Minho starts getting out of the car through the window.

“Do not fucking touch me!” Minho yells back.

“Why are you so mad?”

Minho crawls onto the top of the car and throws his arms in the air. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because of this?”

“Well, turning onto this road was not my idea!”

“You're blaming me?”

Jisung stares at Minho as if he has said the obvious thing. “Uh, yeah?! You're a terrible navigator!”

“You're a terrible driver!” Jisung looks hurt. And mad. And Minho doesn’t necessarily want to think about him anymore so he turns around and puts his hands on his hips.

“Hey, I'm a great driver.”

“I'm jumping off,” Minho says angrily, then slides down the windshield, stands on the hood and jumps off easily. He lands on the ground smoothly, and then watches Jisung for a moment. “I'm out of here.”

“Wait! Help me,” Jisung pouts.

“You brought this upon yourself. You killed Petunia!”

Jisung puts his hands together as if for a prayer and says, “I get that! I'll buy your grandma a new car, damn it! Just help me.”

“Just jump off!” And the musician then tries to do what Minho did, but the car has sunk deeper and only the roof of the car is now visible still. And then Jisung thinks it's a good idea to literally... just jump. He falls into the mud.

“Jesus,” Minho says as Jisung’s head reappears from the filthy water. “You're so fucking stupid.”

“If you would've just helped me!” He says as he gets out of the water. Minho gags.

“I had to avenge Petunia.”

He doesn't mean it as a joke, but Jisung laughs. His laugh falters, however, when his phone rings. He quickly walks away to find ‘better reception’. Minho slowly walks away, too. But not to find reception. “Doyoung?” he hears Jisung say. “Hello? Doyoung hyung? There's no signal. Can you hear me?... Hello?"

“Hey!" Minho hears him yell, and it doesn't take long before Jisung has caught up with him. “Where are you going?”

“To the beach where my sister is probably freaking out right now. God, why did I get into this stupid car with you?”

“Uh, Minho?”

He stops mid-step, turning around. “What?” he yells and Jisung points behind him.

“Beach is that way.”

Minho walks past Jisung without saying a word. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Jisung speaks up and asks him if he is okay. “Stop talking to me.”

“I'm just concerned. You don't have to be so grumpy all the time.”

Minho stops walking. “I'm not grumpy or cranky or crabby! I just wanna go home to my family, explain why l disappeared and suffer the consequences.”

Jisung chuckles, then throws his hands in the air like some lunatic. “You know what I want? I wanna have fun. Okay? For the first time in years, there's no reporters, there's no interviews, there's no crowds. I'm having a good time. I want you to stop complaining so I can enjoy it!” he stalks away angrily.

“Wow. So that's what it's like with you?” Minho yells. “You don't get what you want so you throw a big old tantrum and walk away? You know, I'll bet your friends chase after you when you do that. ‘Jisungie, I'm so sorry I hurt your delicate little feelings’. ‘Jisungie, forgive me for not treating you like the big, enormous star you think you are’. What a brat.”

“I'm a brat? I'm a brat? What about you, huh?” Jisung stops agrily, to which Minho let’s out a shocked, ‘me?’. “Yeah. Over the last two days, I've done nothing but think about you.”

Minho scoffs. “Really? So when you hit me with a door, hid me in your house and wrecked my grandma's car you were just being thoughtful? Oh, I pity your friends.”

"You wish you were one of my friends.”

Minho moves forward so his nose nearly touches Jisung’s. “I'd rather go down with Petunia.” And bumps his shoulder into the younger’s as he walks away.

He hears him sigh, and then he catches up with again. “You know what, I'm confused about something.”

“What again?”

“I don't know. When we were taking all those photos… I— I thought you liked me?”

Minho fakes a laugh. “You thought wrong.”

“But everyone likes me. Why is it that you don’t like me?”

“Maybe… why do you think everyone likes you?”

“It's 'cause I'm likeable.”

“No, it's because you're a star.”

Jisung looks hurt. The mud made his long, ginger hair stick to his face. “What does that mean?”

“You don't even see it, do you?” Minho stops in his tracks again, crossing his arms over his chest. The musician looks clueless.

“Your life isn't real. You park in no-parking zones, you never have to wait in line, you buy anything you want, anytime. Your house is like a hotel. You have so many people working for you, and I'll bet you don't even know their names.”

“Huh, I do.”

“Name one.”

“Bob.”

“You just made that up.”

“W-Well, okay, Doyoung hyung knows everybody. That's his job.”

“See? That's not normal. You pay everyone for things you want them to do for you because you think money can solve anything. You’re just spoiled.” Jisung searches for words, but nothing comes out. “Yeah. That’s it.”

Minho starts walking again, but Jisung is left confused. “So you're saying I'm not a real person? Because I am.”

“Oh, I stand corrected.”

“Well, all right. What if I told you something about me that no one else knows?”

“I don't care.”

“From the first day I met you I— whoa!” Jisung disappears from sight.

“Jisung!" Minho yells, frightened, but then he hears water. Jisung reappears and swiftly pulls the elder in the water with him.

Minho can stand easily, so only half his body stands in the water while Jisung dives and plays in the water like a ten year old boy. But then, he splashes a load of water on Minho, to which he stands frozen. “You did not just—” And then Minho pulls Jisung's head underwater, but he is somehow way stronger than Minho is, so the roles get reversed. “My glasses! Not cool,” he says, putting them back on with no use.

“Sorry,” says the musician apologetically. “Let's get out.”

It is now that Minho realises how hot it is in California. He's out of the water—refusing to take his t-shirt off even though he'd dry sooner without—and he's almost completely dry after an hour.

“I wish I could stay here forever. Where no one can find me,” Jisung starts. “They all want something from me. Even my Chan and Changbin, God.”

“Your friends. Tough.”

“They love me. And I love them. And we love what we do with our music. But I feel like all we care about right now is this movie deal. Our managers think it's my ‘next career move’, so…”

“And is it?”

“I don’t even know if I’m that good of an actor.”

Minho looks up from where he was playing with the grass and looks at Jisung. Really focuses his gaze on him. He's sitting on a trunk, his hair still clinging to his body but less as it has before. His black shirt has now completely dried and also doesn't really stuck to his body anymore.

“But what about your tour?”

“What about it?”

“Well, thirty countries, ten weeks, millions screaming fans. I'm no expert or anything, but that seems like a lot, the tour and the movie at the same time.”

“We don’t really have a choice.”

“Everyone has a choice. What do you guys wanna do?”

Jisung sighs. “We just don’t want to disappoint our fans, our parents, our managers.... everyone is counting on us. So we never say ‘no’. We agree to everything.”

“Your life,” Minho starts, “is so different from mine. Everything you do and say is public.”

“Not everything. Right now, here with you, I feel like I can just be myself. Not Han Jisung of 3RACHA. Not famous. Just... you know, just me.”

Minho nods. “Feels good?”

“Couldn’t be better.”

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

Hyemin hesitantly walks into the house. Entering the kitchen, she hears two familiar voices chatting. “Chan?”

“God, Hyemin? What are you doing here?”

She holds out the car keys, looking around in shock. Mingyu, standing next to Chan, is confused as the younger mutters, “That’s not good. That’s very bad.”

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

“We... actually made it,” Minho spoke out in disbelief when they reach the shore. He’s panting after a long walk and he feels like his legs are going to give out any moment. “See? I'm the best navigator.”

“You're not. But...hey,” Jisung says quietly, placing his hand on Minho's arm to stop him from walking but after a second, he quickly takes it off. He now knows that the older boy doesn't like to be touched. He has shared that with him. “I had a really great time today.”

“Petunia didn’t.”

“Come on. She’s in a better place now.”

“You owe me so much money.”

Jisung opens his mouth to say something but closes it after a moment. Then, he does it again but this time, he says hesitantly, “But— did you... too? Have a good time, I mean.” Minho shrugs, but then grins.

“I was kind of keen on Petunia.”

“You're the worst,” Jisung laughs, but then he looks at the ground. “But then again... you're so different from anyone I've ever known.”

“So... what you're actually saying is that I'm the best, right?” Minho fixes glasses that have seemed to slip down on his nose a little bit.

“Wow. Your ego is huge,” the musician elbows him in the ribs.

“I'm simply adjusting to your level.” The older boy shrugs and laughs out loud, causing a sudden thought to pop in Jisung’s mind.

“I really like it when you laugh.”

Minho freezes for a moment but tries to play it cool, a smirk creeping up onto his face. “First you say you love my voice, now you say you like my laugh. I might think you’ve fallen for me.” Jisung blinks as he feels his cheeks heat up. Minho uses his right hand to keep Jisung’s chin in place to make him look him in the eyes, but he’s hesitant. “Oh, come on. I don’t blame you. I’m lovely.” Jisung bursts out laughing and Minho smiles, still holding his chin delicately. He steps closer and feels his heartbeat quicken. “Don’t you think I’m lovely?” He whispers, eyes now on Jisung’s lips. The younger must’ve noticed, letting out a small gasp.

“You—”

When Jisung speaks, Minho tilts his head to the side with a small grin. “I what?” He doesn’t expect an answer from the musician and he doesn’t get it. They stare into each other’s eyes fully focused. Minho’s hand is now moved onto Jisung’s cheek, caressing the younger’s cheekbone with his thumb. Minho notices how Jisung’s eyes look at something to his side for a moment before he freezes and moves away from him quickly. He pulls his hat over his eyes but Minho stays still as his hand drops from the place where Jisung has stood a moment ago. He turns to the side and notices two surfers who don’t even spare them a glance.

“God,” the musician says, exhaling. “That was close.” He wipes a hand on his jeans and then his eyes meet Minho's again, but they are sterner this time. “Okay. Back to the real world. You know what happens next, right?”

“Uh. No?” Minho furrows his brows in confusion.

“This ends here.”⠀

“What does?” The older crosses his arms over his chest and steps back. He swallows hard, realizing what was happening.

“This. Us,” Jisung tells him, gesticulating with his hands.

Minho frowns. “Us?” There is no ‘us’.

“Yeah. You and me. Together. You— I— They've been speculating about my sexuality, okay? So, if we go down the beach, if we get photographed together, it will definitely get crazy. And then I don't get this movie deal and ruin it for my friends too.”

Minho doesn't know what to think right now. “That you're terrible at hiding your sexuality and therefore cannot be seen with anyone other than your female friends is not my problem.”

“It will if they see you.”

“They don't even know who I am. You don't even know who I am.”

“All they know is that I'm Han Jisung and you're just a nobody. They don’t need anything more to fuck everything up.”

“A nobody,” Minho repeats, hurt. He starts to walk away, feeling a lump in his throat make a comeback. He tries to swallows but it’s hard, so when he speaks up again, his voice is weak. “Well, this nobody doesn't want to remember this day, either. So this nobody will now leave.”

“Wait, wait,” Jisung says, stopping Minho. “I don't get it. What’s happening?”

“You tell me. One second you say that I’m wonderful, but the next you're embarrassed to be seen with me and frankly, I don't want to be seen with you. Problem solved. Now leave me alone,” the older says, walks around the musician and starts walking down the beach, but he stops dead in his tracks when Jisung calls after him.

“Min hyung, wait. Please.”

“What did you just call me?”

Jisung’s eyes widen. “H-hyung, please. Let me—”

“No, Mr Superstar. Leave me the fuck alone.”

“The pictures. I should probably have them,” Jisung says in a stern tone. He now knows there’s nothing else he could do. Even though he has had the best time with Minho, this can’t last. “Just in case the pictures would get out, you know.”

“Fine. You want my pictures?” Minho says loudly, hot tears streaming down his face. He takes the camera out of his bag and throws it into the sand. “There’s nothing on I that I would want to remember, anyway.”

Jisung stops him once again. “Minho, I don’t want to say goodbye like this.”

Minho snorts, wiping the tears off his face with his hand. “How about this, huh? You forget about me just like you planned to and I forget about you. We never see each other again because clearly, this was just a stupid mistake.”

“Go ahead and judge me. Okay. But you don't know what it will be like. The paparazzi never go away. And once they have you in their sights, they won't quit until they get what they want. And when they finally get it, they'll turn it into something ugly. They'll ruin everything.”

“They don't have to,” Minho says beyond the lump in his throat, “you already did.”

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

Coming home from the beach isn’t really that hard as Aaron (who picks up Minho’s call that he makes from the booth in the parking lot) has driven his car to take him back to Northridge. Stepping inside the house though, is everything Minho doesn’t expect it to be — his parents are mad at him for the first time in his life and Hyemin… Hyemin is weirdly not talking about the person he wanted to forget about. Everyone falls silent that evening as Minho suddenly bursts into sobs, cold tears streaming down his face. His family seems to be shocked, at least and for a moment, they don’t know what to do.

“Min, are you… are you feeling alright?” his sister asks worriedly, placing her small hand over his thigh. He shakes his head, hiding his face away from their curious gazes by covering it with a pillow.

“I want to go home,” he sobs out and immediately runs out of the living room up the stairs, leaving his family in silence after slamming the door to his bedroom.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

When it finally is time to say goodbye, Minho is back to his old snarky-self but none of his family members dare to tease him.

“Are you going to be fine, Min-ah?” asks grandma when they’re hugging. She whispers into his ear, pulling him too close to her chest. Minho swears he can hear his bones cracking, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I will be, grandma. Don’t worry about me. I’m a big boy, you know?”

She chuckles and nods, focusing her gaze on his soft face. He does his signature expression and pulls the corners of his mouth upright in a cat smile to make her less worried about him. Even if he doesn’t feel well, he will. Someday.

“I’m sorry about Petunia.”

“It’s alright, darling. Don’t occupy your beautiful mind with a stupid car. Focus on yourself. Get well soon.”

Minho hugs Aaron once and then goes straight to the car his family rented in the beginning of their trip. Hyemin already has headphones on and Minho can hear the voice he so badly wants to forget coming out of them, so he pulls out his own headphones and plays random music really loud, just to silence the deadly thoughts in his head.

He just really wants to be back in Seoul already.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

When Minho wakes up one morning a few days later, he’s confused as of why he can hear his sister screaming downstairs. He hears someone slamming the door and then furious steps on the stairs and the next thing he knows, Hyemin is jumping onto his bed, trapping him under the covers.

“Jesus, what time is—”

“You were with Jisung the day you disappeared from the beach!” she exclaims, shoving her phone into his face. He lets his mind process everything but then his gaze focuses on the device and he’s not so calm anymore. To be exact, his anxiety just rises uncontrollably as he stares at the article and his heartbeat quickens. He switches his gaze to the side and then closes his eyes, breathing in and out steadily.

“Minho— Minho, I’m sorry I attacked you like this. Please, don’t stress. It’s alr—”

And then he hears it. Cameras clicking, lights flashing, people talking. He jumps off his bed and runs to the window and he feels his legs get wobbly. He steadies himself on the windowpane and turns around to face Hyemin. She looks at him with an apologetic smile and says, “I didn’t want to tell you… the paparazzis have been here since the very morning. The article… it suddenly appeared in the top searches and—”

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Hyemin shakes her head, eyes switching to look her phone with Minho and Jisung’s pictures together displayed. She turns it off quickly and throws the device onto Minho’s bed but it bounces off and lands on the floor. She doesn’t care at all.

“His managers haven’t said anything yet. He probably doesn’t even know it leaked,” she says but Minho has no idea if it’s some kind of comfort. He feels like crying again out of sudden, but he doesn’t. He goes back to his bed and hides himself in the sheets. Hyemin doesn’t say a word more, just pats his back and leaves his room after saying, “I trust you, Minho. Whatever this is about. I trust you” and he feels so weird at heart because his sister— it is the first time ever in life, probably when she just… Minho doesn’t even know how to define it. The unsettling feeling and his parents talking downstairs makes him rethink everything once again, (as if it wasn’t all he’s been doing since they came back home) and he comes to a conclusion.

Jisung doesn’t want to be associated with him. Jisung doesn’t want people to think he’s got some sort of things going on with him. Jisung doesn’t want anyone to know what exactly happened in Los Angeles.

And this is what Minho is going to give him.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

He doesn’t go to school for a while but his parents seem to understand. Or, they at least try. They called police on the paparazzis and they left but Minho still hears the cameras clicking sometimes when he goes out to sit in the garden. It scares him, but he doesn’t say a thing.

“You have to talk to us, Minnie,” his mother says one day. “What happened in California?”

Minho wants to respond. Minho wants to tell them but… but has anything happened at all? He feels so unsettled and confused and the world is spinning and thoughts in his head make him feel dizzy but he manages to let out a small sigh. “Just like he said, mama. Nothing happened,” he says, Jisung’s recent interview in mind.

Han Jisung exclusively has said that Lee Minho is just a crazy sasaeng, following him around Los Angeles the day the pictures were taken. He has stated that he has never contacted Minho in any different reason than to tell him to stop stalking him.

Minho knows this has been the plan he has come up with at first — they don’t know each other. But Minho also knows that the agency Jisung is in has made him lie about Minho and that is not alright and it fuels Minho to the core.

Damn, Minho hasn’t liked Jisung in the first place! It’s been a hell of a ride, the entire trip to California and Minho is the one suffering consequences right now. Paparazzis don’t leave his house, the only place he’s felt secure and safe in and Jisung…

_Jisung._

Minho sighs, covering himself with a blanket. He shuts his eyes hard, trying to get away from the sight of Jisung his mind has trapped him with. All his thoughts look like Jisung and he can’t just forget about anything that Jisung is.

Why does he have to make him feel so lost?

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

“Jesus, why don’t they just go home?” Hyemin mutters under her breath as they walk to the car.

“Because they haven’t got what they came for,” Minho replies and she rises her brow at him. “Seatbelts,” he reminds her as he drives off the driveway

“What exactly do they want? He’s already said you are just a fan, what is fucking bullshit—”

Minho rolls his eyes. “Stop cursing.”

“He’s so—ugh. Annoying. I don’t know. I’m disappointed, you know?” Minho stays silent. He doesn’t feel like talking about Jisung ever again (at least for now) and Hyemin doesn’t make it easier for him.

“But, enough of stupid boys. It’s school dance night tomorrow! I hope you’re still going!”

Minho rises his eyebrows, parking the car on the lot next to school. “I thought you didn’t want me there.”

“I changed my mind. You’re welcome to the dance and I will accompany you. You don’t have a date, do you?”

“It’s weird to go to school dance with your brother, don’t you think?”

Hyemin just smiles at him softly and says, “Not if I want to show him that after all, he’s my favorite man in the entire world and that I love him a lot,” before jumping off the jeep and rushing to the school, leaving Minho dumbfounded in the car.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

When Minho steps into the room with Hyemin by his side and camera slinging over his neck, he instantly feels all the people staring. Despite everything, he doesn’t flinch. He holds onto his sister even more and she smiles to him once again. Maybe after all, she wasn’t such an awful person.

“Do you want anything to drink?” she asks but Minho shakes his head. He points to the side where nothing special is going on and rises the corners of his mouth.

“I’ll go take some pictures, go have fun with Eul.”

“Okay, but don’t go anywhere. The band is ought to perform soon. The guy from your class is in it. Yeonjun, i think.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be here the entire time.”

And he is. He is there when people start crowding in front of the stage and when someone spills their drink on his shoes. He is there when the band finishes their gig and when Yeonjun thanks for having them. He’s there when the lights go out and he switches his attention from taking pictures and turns around to face the stage to see what’s going on.

He definitely doesn’t expect him standing on the stage, microphone in shaking hands and a hesitant smile on his lips. His own lips part in shock and he freezes. Minho just wants to break the promise he made to his sister and just run away. Somewhere far, where Han Jisung’s gaze wouldn’t find him.

He isn’t hard to spot, especially when people realize what (or who) Han Jisung stood on the stage for and they all turn around to him and Minho is so, so screwed. Jisung’s eyes find his and he lets out a gasp because…

How was it possible that Minho hasn’t seen Jisung for a month but it seemed like an eternity, during which Jisung visibly changed?

“Minho,” Jisung starts and Minho can hear his voice trembling and he has no bloody idea what to do or what to feel. He’s just standing there, his eyes not leaving the younger’s, in front of all those people from school who for the past weeks accused him of being a stalker and a liar and he just— wants to bolt. But he doesn’t, because Jisung speaks up again. “There’s something I forgot to tell you in California.”

Before Jisung can start singing, Minho turns around and walks out of the room accompanied by gasps. He hears the younger boy’s apologies to the audience when he practically runs down the halls.

“Minho!”

He doesn’t stop. In fact, he starts running faster, his breath hitching and tears spilling down his face and he has no idea why out of sudden he’s crying and he does not like it a tiny bit.

“Lee Minho, stop! I like you, Minho. I fucking like you a lot!”

And he does finally stop in his tracks but still doesn’t turn around. The steps behind him also have quietened a lot and it seems like Jisung has been waiting for him to say something, to turn around and maybe scream at him. Minho doesn’t know what Jisung has been thinking about, chasing after him through the school corridors, but he’s confused.

He can hear the music was on once again and tries to steady his breath to the rhythm of a slow melody. “Please, stop,” he lets out, “Please stop saying things you will regret later. Stop acting on a moment and then leaving when you don’t like the consequences. Stop making me feel like this!”

Jisung’s mouth is open when Minho finally turns around.

“Minho hyung…”

“No, Jisung. What did you think? You’re gonna fly to Seoul and put on a show in my school after you’ve called me a stalker on national television and I’m gonna get all giddy and jump into your arms?”

“I was— I don’t know what I was expecting,” the younger admits, taking a step forward. “But I came here for two reasons. Because I wanted to apologize to you for saying things I didn’t mean. You’re not a ‘nobody’. You’re Lee Minho and that’s so much more than enough. And the second reason is that… I still haven’t figured that out but…” Jisung takes a deep breath and smiles hesitantly, locking his eyes with Minho’s. “I can’t stop thinking about you. For the past weeks I’ve been wondering how you are feeling but I was forbidden to contact you. I’m just— I’m sorry, Minho. You never deserved this.”

Minho doesn’t say anything. Instead, he takes a few steps forward until he and Jisung are less than a meter apart. His heart is beating fast, but he manages to wrap his shaking arms around Jisung’s waist. “It’s not me… forgiving you right now. I still need to know everything. Why did you lie about me? I just— I don’t understand anything what’s going on but… you give me that sort of comfort, despite everything.”

He can hear Jisung’s heart beating fast, even though his ears are not anything near his chest. He tries to bite back the tears once again and steps back, just before Jisung wants to return his hug. Minho sees the disappointment but he can’t act any different.

“You hurt me, Jisung. I might not me a superstar, I might not be rich, I might not have millions of fans and I might not understand your life but… it hurt me because I wanted to understand you. Not J.ONE or anyone else. I wanted to get to know you, Han Jisung. And you ruined that.”

Jisung stays silent but he doesn’t shift his gaze from Minho not even for a second.

“You said you liked me.”

“I’m coming to terms with that, but yes. I’ve got some sort of feeling for you,” Jisung says, biting on his lower lip. He plays with his fingers nervously but relaxes as a smile creeps onto Minho’s face.

“That’s good, because I think I like you too.”

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

“I lied. I lied about not knowing Lee Minho, I lied about him being a stalker. The truth is, I’m still getting to know the Minho that I like. Lee Minho is a terrible navigator and overall a little snarky kitten that needs constant attention, but he’s honest. He makes a promise and he keeps it. He takes me on cute dates and spends time with me and makes me feel so, so loved. And I’m still making up for my mistakes and I cannot be happier than this. I cannot be happier with a boy so sweet by my side and fans who support me. That’s why, the thing I ask you all for is respect. Respect me, but respect Minho in the first place. He deserves all the love and I will try to give it to him. So, just leave us alone.”

Jisung on the TV has a stern expression on his face, giving interview to one mainstream stations about the previous events. He finishes off with a “Thanks for understanding” and he screen goes blank. Minho laughs out loud as Hyemin squeals next to him on the couch.

“That was so, so, so cute!” she exclaims and Minho cannot disagree.

They have not came to terms about their relationship, not putting any labels on it. They just go on dates and cuddle a lot, send each other good morning and goodnight messages, call each other whenever their free and maybe kiss occasionally but there’s nothing more to it.

Besides, they have all the time in the world and there’s no reason for them to rush.

“Nah, you did not just watch that interview for the tenth time today,” says a voice and both siblings turn to the side to look at Jisung, leaning on the doorframe.

“Watch me, darling. Maybe I love hearing about how awesome I am, huh?” Minho smiles dreamily and makes grabby hands towards the younger boy, who instantly sits himself on the elder’s lap, leaning back on his chest.

Jisung humms. “I gotta give you all of me before I leave for LA, then. How are you gonna survive without me for this long?”

Minho pouts and ignores the fake gag his sister does before leaving them in the living room alone. “Hmm… maybe I should go with you.”

“You’ve got your studies, I can’t ask you for this,” Jisung immediately says and turns around in Minho’s lap to straddle him. His hands land on Minho’s cheeks as he caresses them with his thumbs. “But I can ask you to be my boyfriend, what do you think?” Minho rises his eyebrows, so Jisung continues. “I thought about this a lot lately and I want to do this. I want to be yours if only you want to be mine.”

The elder one smiles widely and pecks the younger one’s lips once. “Dumbass, I am already yours.”

“Good that we’ve established this, then.”

Maybe they make out on the couch, maybe they don’t. But the next thing Minho knows, he’s in San Francisco to surprise Jisung during his tour with 3RACHA and he’s kissing Jisung’s entire face after not being able to do so for months. He ignores the laughs of Seungmin, who’s become his best friend after the entire pack has gathered together and keeps on kissing his boyfriend, and focuses on the way Jisung’s hair feels under his fingertips. He ignores Hyunjins snarky remark because Felix’s done a good job in shutting him up instantly. Minho focuses on the way Jisung smiles into every kiss, making it feel like it is the first.

“God, I love you so much,” he slips the same late evening and freezes instantly but Jisung just wraps his arms tighter around his waist and leans into his touch.

“I love you even more than you can imagine. It’s so crazy, but I really like the way you make me feel.”

Maybe after all, they both found their happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! please leave kudos if you've enjoyed my work and let me know in the comments what are your overall thoughts.
> 
> i would gladly appreciate any form of feedback!  
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/HANLlNO/)  
> [my curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/lovinagain/)  
> 


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